The 2013 Disneyland Half Marathon sold out in record time. (Photo: runDisney)

We all knew that Disney races were popular, but this is a new record. The Disneyland Half Marathon, Disneyland 10K and Dumbo Double Dare sold out in 26 hours.

It’s the fastest any runDisney race has sold out. In 2012, it took a month for the Disneyland Half Marathon to reach capacity. But in 2013, the new 10K and Dumbo Dare sold out in less than a day, with the half-marathon closing just a few hours later.

The Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend from August 30 to September 1, 2013 at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., has now joined events like the Marine Corps Marathon and Boston Marathon, which reach capacity within hours, instead of days or months. Even the 2012 Chicago Marathon took a full six days to fill up.

What gives?

“Runner response to the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend is overwhelming,” said Disney Sports Marketing and Communication Director Faron Kelley in a press release. “This points to the growing popularity of runDisney events and runner demand for two-day, back-to-back race challenges, along with the ever popular 10K distance.”

Also a likely factor is the Coast-to-Coast Race Challenge, which dares runners to complete a marathon or half-marathon at both Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California in the same calendar year. With only two race weekends at Disneyland—the Tinker Bell Half Marathon and Disneyland Half Marathon—runners looking to complete Coast-to-Coast have fewer races to choose from. Whereas Walt Disney World hosts four races that qualify runners.

Yet another factor is the continuing popularity of running. Year after year, Americans are turning to running in record numbers, according to Running USA. In 2011, the number of people who ran more than 110 days in the year increased almost 25 percent over participation numbers in 2010. A record 13.9 million people finished a road race in America in 2011, compared with just 5.2 million in 1991. In fact, the number of road race finishers in the U.S. has climbed for eight years in a row. As more people turn to the sport, races sell-out faster.

In those 26 hours, more than 25,000 runners registered for the Disneyland events: 17,5000 will run the Disneyland Half Marathon, 8,000 will join the new Disneyland 10K and 5,000 will tackle both as part of the new Dumbo Double Dare, which challenges runners to complete both the 10K on Saturday and half-marathon on Sunday.

Charity and Travel Group Disneyland Half Marathon Entries

If you had your heart set on competing but missed the registration window, never fear. A limited number of spots are available for the half marathon and 10K through charity partners:

More information is available at the Disneyland Half Marathon tab of rundisney.com.

Registration is still open for the Family Fun Run 5K and runDisney Kids Races during Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, but those races are also filling quickly.

Disclosure: As part of the running media, runDisney sometimes provides me with complimentary race entry, hotel, park tickets, and some meals for runDisney events. But as always, all opinions are my own. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

Karla Bruning is a race announcer at the TCS New York City Marathon + other major events, TV host for the New York City Triathlon + contributor to Shape, Redbook, Runner's World + other publications. She used to report for Newsweek but spent her free time squeezing in workouts. Now it's her job. She's run 8 marathons, 30 halves, 10 triathlons + open water swims. When she's not running, talking about running or writing about running, she's snuggling her baby, spoiling her dog + compulsively traveling.

I was one of those people who missed out on the Dumbo Double Dare challenge, even though I had logged on 1.5 hours after registration opened (I had JUST convinced my future hubby to let me do this as part of our honeymoon. I ended up registering for the races separately. Then I found out about the charities. With such a good cause I opted to defer my 1/2 marathon entry for another Disney 1/2 (and eat my 10K fee) and registered for the DDD through a charity (A-T Children’s Project specifically). I mean, once you read these causes, it’s so hard to not want to run for them…Kellie recently posted..Unofficially Dumbo, Officially Bummed